RSPCA Bronze medal for lifeboatmen Nine crew members of West Kirby's D class inflatable lifeboat, the deputy launching authority and the station honorary secretary have been awarded the RSPCA's Bronze medal for rescuing two horses which were stuck in the mud and in great danger of drowning as the tide flooded.It was at 1320 on 10 April 1988 that crew member Malcolm Jones first told station honorary secretary Ron Jones that two horses were being ridden towards a notoriously muddy gutter in the river Dee estuary off West Kirby.

The two animals and their riders were very quickly trapped in the soft mud and with just three hours left until high water Ron Jones immediately decided to assemble the crew and launch the station's D class lifeboat.

The lifeboat was carried across to the casualties, and in the five minutes this took the tide had already approached the horses and their riders. The riders were quickly helped to firmer ground, but the horses continued to sink into the soft mud underfoot and were very distressed.

Despite the efforts of the RNLI crew and station personnel, helpers from the nearby West Kirby Sailing Club, police and coastguard the horses could not be freed as the tide advanced, and at 1521 a vet was called in case one of the horses, which was tightly stuck in the mud, might have to be put down.A makeshift sling was made up to help lift the horses, and one was eventually freed and led to firmer ground.

The tide was flooding remorselessly and eventually the lifeboatmen were working in water up to their waists as they struggled to free the animal while lifting its head above the surface.

It was not until 1600, 20 minutes before high water, that the second horse was finally freed and led to safety on a nearby slipway where the vet was able to examine it.

Although both animals were very tired after their two-and-a-half hour ordeal neither horse suffered any significant injury.

The RNLI personnel involved in the operation were: Richard Farnworth, Malcolm Jones, G. Hanson, Richard Booth, Eric Welles, Andrew Fowler, Guy Watkins, D.

Henshaw, P. Langley, Harry Jones (DLA) and Ron Jones (SHS)..